Sunday, December 13, 2009

Remembering Dottie...

I have tried to prepare myself for this day for months. Today the Rockin' Bobbins will gather with family and friends of Dottie and say goodbye. Dottie passed away on Friday, December 4, after a couragous fight with ovarian and breast cancer.

I thank God for my friendship and time with Dottie. We met about nine years ago when we both joined the Rockin' Bobbins quilting group, shortly after it formed. I could never guess her age because she took such good care of herself, walking every morning. Now when I say walking... I don't mean around the block.. I mean a quick, almost sprint, for 5 miles. Dottie was a vegetarian. She also dressed very dignified, but not prissy. I finally learned she shared my mother's birth date, February 20, and was one year younger. She was 71 when she passed.

Dottie and her husband Russ have been married 53 years. They have 4 grown children, 12 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren. And if you can imagine this, Russ and Dottie also fostered 38 children. One of Dottie's grandchildren, Colton, is just a year older than my Charlie, so I would often go to Dottie with questions. She was always spot on with advice but didn't offer it unless asked. She was truely a sage.

Dottie was an artist, and a very productive quilter and knitter. If she made one quilt, then she made one for all the boys, or all the kids, or all the grandchildren. A couple years back I think she knitted 9 (okay, I might be embellishing there) afgans for the boys - and began in August for Christmas. Her last quilting project was 8 Christmas tree skirts she gave to the kids at Thanksgiving. Dottie was also a china painter, which I loved because my mother-in-law was also a china painter. One year at Christmas we all received thimbles she had painted... how lucky we are!

Above all, Dottie was a loving, mission minded, Christian woman. She was active in Bible Study Fellowship and Women's Prison Ministry. Her quiet example of her faith in the Lord bore witness that spoke volumes.